“Colonel Mosby seems to have had almost as enjoyable a time in raiding the weak places in Lee’s inaccurate report of the Gettysburg campaign, in Longstreet’s Memoirs, and in the numerous biographies of Lee and other writings by his staff officers as he had during the war in descending upon the trains, camps, and cattle herds of the Union armies in Virginia. ... The lively narrative of Mosby’s own exploits sometimes fails to be sustained by other evidence.”
“A very valuable addition to Civil war literature. The only adverse criticism that can be made is that they contain rather too many quotations from official reports and family letters which have but a faint interest to the reader of to-day.”
MOSES, MONTROSE JONAS.American dramatist. new rev ed il*$1.75 Little 812 17-17744
“A second edition of ‘The American dramatist,’ has been revised and enlarged to contain a history of the progress of the motion-picture industry and the advance of American drama since 1910. Mr Moses presents the drama largely in its sociological aspects, and his character sketches of dramatists have a biological trend. ... Among the latter is a study of Percy MacKaye and his father, Steele MacKaye. There is a chapter on ‘little theaters.’ ... The closing chapter discusses the privileges and duties of the dramatic critic.” (R of Rs) A “Bibliography of the American dramatist” is found on pages [379]-394.
Reviewed by Algernon Tassin
“The author apparently thinks that his task of ‘revision’ is fulfilled by covering the six years that have passed since his work originally appeared with a number of extra chapters here and there. He seems to have left his original work almost untouched, and as the later chapters are not specifically indicated, we are often quite unable to tell whether the author is looking back from 1911 or from 1917. The result is a good deal of muddle. ... There is about ‘The American dramatist’ a lack of enthusiasm, an over-critical note that suggests a quite undue pessimism; a scarcity of constructive criticism.”
“It is, all in all, an excellent book, yet it does not give enough attention to individual plays; gives too much attention to conventionalized ideas, and gives too little credit to ‘the movies,’ to the little theater and to those dramatists of excellent ‘moments,’ who by their very failures to construct model plays best exemplify the American drama’s real trend.”
MOSS, JAMES ALFRED.Trench warfare. il $1.25 Banta pub. 355 17-17084
“Major Moss ... is a member of the United States army, and bases his handbook on private and official British publications which set forth the best methods, as developed by experience, of training and instructing officers and men in trench warfare. The first chapter, on ‘Tactical fortifications,’ deals with the work of making intrenchments and other field fortifications; the second taking up, under the heading, ‘The service of the trenches,’ such matters as routine of duty, billeting, sanitation, the different methods of offense and defense, and the responsibilities of the platoon commander. Other chapters deal with sniping, grenades and grenadiers, gas warfare, bayonet fighting, machine guns, and various features of the offensive. A complete set of questions for every chapter adds to the value of the book for purposes of instruction in training camps. It is very fully illustrated with reproductions of photographs taken at the front.”—N Y Times
“A good guide book for the soldier.”
“Major Moss’s presentation of the methods of warfare that have been developed during the last three years is perhaps the most exhaustive that has been made.”
MOSS, JAMES ALFRED, and STEWART, MERCH BRADT.Military training for boys; intended to develop body, character and patriotism. il 50c Banta 355.07 17-16556
This volume was prepared by two officers of the United States army, joint authors of “Self-helps for the citizen soldier,” for the use of the National school camp association. The purpose is defined as follows: “First, to give the boys of this country a clear idea of the part that military preparedness and training play in the life of a nation; second, to teach them some of the A.B.C.’s of military training; third, to make clear to the American youth that the drills and maneuvers of military training, while necessary, are only one side—the mechanical side—of the soldier’s work, and that the lessons of patriotism, loyalty, discipline, frugality, physical and moral sturdiness, self-reliance, self-control, determination and respect for the law, all of which enter into the training of a soldier, are qualities which will help them to be better citizens and more successful men in every walk of life, and that they may, every day of their lives, while training themselves for their work in life, at the same time, train themselves in the qualities which the soldier must have; fourth, to impress upon our boys the fact that in the future, as in the past, we must depend upon the citizenry of the country to defend it.” (Prefatory note)
MOSS, JAMES ALFRED, and STEWART, MERCH BRADT.Our flag and its message.*25c Lippincott 929.9 17-14035
This little booklet is by two officers of the United States army. “In the compass of less than thirty pages they give the story of ‘Old Glory,’ explain its symbolism and present in addition the President’s appeal for unity at the opening of hostilities between our country and Germany.” (Cath World) “America” and “The Star spangled banner” are printed in full.
“One of the most attractive leaflets we have seen among the host of such publications the war has brought forth.”
MOULTON, FOREST RAY.Introduction to astronomy.new and rev ed il*$2.25 Macmillan 520 16-23571
“The necessity for a new edition has given Dr Moulton an opportunity to rewrite his manual, with the addition of some new material and an altered organization. The first chapters in the new edition deal with the earth and its motions, and aim in general to ‘illustrate the care with which scientific theories are established,’ and the chapters on the sun and the evolution of the solar system follow the treatment of the moon, planets and comets.”—Springf’d Republican
“The popularity of Prof. Forest Ray Moulton’s ‘Introduction to astronomy’ is attested by the fact that there have been seven reprints since the first appearance of the textbook ten years ago. ... There are nearly 200 diagrams and photographic illustrations. Dr Moulton is professor of astronomy in the University of Chicago and research associate of the Carnegie institution of Washington.”
MOXCEY, MARY ELIZA.Girlhood and character; introd. by G: A. Coe. (Manuals of religious education for parents and teachers)*$1.50 Abingdon press 173 16-23594
“For leaders, teachers, and parents of girls this is an analysis of the problems of adolescent girlhood, from the standpoints of physiology, psychology, and growth of character through formal and informal education. Divided into four parts, taking up the problem as the older generation sees it, early adolescence, middle, and later adolescence.”—A L A Bkl
“Has been criticized as bordering on sentimentalism and attempting too varied a field.”
“The author makes clear that the moral education of the emotions begins not with prescribing or proscribing acts for young people, but in self-knowledge, reverence and control.”
“A full bibliography of books relating to girls and women is a valuable addition.”
“Personal service rather than hearty cooperative endeavor becomes the character factor. This lack in the book is counterbalanced by the suggestive treatment of certain other points.” K. T.
MÜCKE, HELLMUTH VON.The “Ayesha”; tr. by Helene S. White. il*$1.25 (3c) Ritter & co. 940.91 17-4203
The landing squad of the “Emden” was sent on shore at the Keeling Islands to destroy a wireless station. While they were so occupied, the “Emden” became engaged in action, and Lieutenant von Mücke with his men, unable to overtake her in their small motor boat, were left stranded. To stay on the island meant capture by the British, and taking possession of a small sailing vessel, a none too seaworthy craft, that lay in the harbor, they made their escape. This was the “Ayesha.” It is interesting to note that the Englishmen on the island, to whom the “sporting side of the situation” made an appeal, helped the Germans in their departure. As an exciting narrative the tale of their adventures is worthy of the commendation that the translator in her preface and Lieutenant Klein of the United States navy in his foreword give it.
“It is interesting in the first place as a record of gallant and perilous adventure, in more ways than one a veritable wonder-voyage. And it is interesting as a personal narrative, for the gayety, humor, and briskness with which the story is told.”
MÜCKE, HELLMUTH VON.The “Emden”; tr. by Helene S. White. il*$1.25 (4c) Ritter & co. 940.91 17-13489
Kapitänleutnant von Mücke, first officer on board the Emden, gives an account of that ship’s adventures in the fall of 1914. News that Germany was at war with Russia and France was received on August 2, and the Emden, then in the Indian ocean, was immediately made ready for action. The first chapter contains a brief and positive statement of the causes of the war from the German point of view, but in the remainder of the book the author confines himself quite strictly to his narrative. As he has related in “The Ayesha,” he had gone ashore with the landing squad at the time of the Emden’s last fight, so he can only describe that event as witnessed from a distance.
“If this were a primeval struggle, with no cables, wireless, or correspondents to keep the world informed of its minutest fluctuations; if only a few incidents rose out of the haze of rumor to stand clear in the light of fact, the Emden might then be the central theme of an Iliad in which its Capt. von Mücke was Achilles. Unfortunately the narrative, appearingas it did at about the time America declared war, cannot hope for as large an audience as it might have won in a better day.”
MUIR, JOHN.Cruise of the Corwin. il*$2.50 (5½c) Houghton 919.8 17-31765
When the “Thomas Corwin” put out from San Francisco in 1881 in search of the “Jeannette,” lost somewhere in the Arctic, John Muir, already distinguished for his glacial studies in the Sierra Nevada and Alaska, was a member of the expedition. The objective of the expedition was Wrangell Land, then unexplored, for which it was believed De Long of the “Jeannette” had been headed. In the introduction to this volume it is stated that “so far as known, the first human beings that ever stood upon the shores of this island were in Captain Hooper’s landing party, August 12, 1881, and John Muir was of the number.” A second relief expedition touched on the island shortly after, but between that time and the wreck of Steffánsson’s flagship the “Karluk,” in 1914, the region was unexplored. This gives to John Muir’s record a unique value. It was the first, and remains practically the only scientific account of this part of the arctic regions. A series of letters contributed to the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, supplemented with extracts from his journal, forms the basis for this volume. It is edited by William Frederic Badè.
“Not as interesting as his other books to the general reader.”
“A worthy and interesting supplement to his book of explorations in Alaska. ... It is by no means a dry and technical scientific treatise. While he observed and recorded scientific facts he was deeply interested in the human life around him, was keenly alive to the characteristics and ways of the Eskimos.” H. S. K.
“The joy he found in the voyage and its experiences is evident on every page of his journal or his articles. The picture he gives of that desolate world and of its inhabitants, of the wild seas and the bitter weather or the glory of the short summer, is a picture vivid and compelling and human. The editor has done his work excellently, and has contributed a valuable introduction.”
“Every admirer of John Muir and every lover of Arctic adventure will rejoice in this book.”
MUIR, RAMSAY.Expansion of Europe; the culmination of modern history.maps*$2 (3½c) Houghton 940.5 (Eng ed 17-15578)
The author, who is professor of modern history in the University of Manchester, “surveys the origins and nature of the process by which, during the past four centuries, the world has been subjugated by European civilization; he discusses the relations of this process to the problems of the war, and endeavours to analyse the nature of the share in the work taken by the chief European peoples who have participated in it. The meaning and motives of imperialism are discussed, and the successive periods of European imperialism are considered in order of time: the period of ‘Iberian monopoly’; the period of Dutch, French, and English rivalry; the era of revolution, covering the severance of the American colonies from Britain, and the establishment of British rule in India; the period of the transformation of the British empire, 1815-78, and the growth of self-government in the colonies; the era of the world-states and the partition of Africa, 1878-1900; and the recent period, covering the campaigns in Egypt and the Sudan, the war with the Boers, and Germany’s ‘great challenge’ to the world.” (Ath) There are a number of serviceable black-and-white maps. “The essay was originally designed as one of a set of four, to be included under the general title ‘The culmination of modern history.’ Two of these have been already published under the title of ‘Nationalism and internationalism.’” (Preface)
“While it is perfectly obvious that in any account of the expansion of Europe the British empire must be accorded the largest share for both size and achievement, the tale could have been unfolded with much less national self-glorification. Perhaps it might have been desirable not to intimate quite so strongly that ‘force and fraud’ were characteristics of the modes of securing colonial territory by all European countries except Great Britain. ... The chapter on the transformation of the British empire between 1815 and 1878 is easily the best in the book. Here the reasons for the tolerant attitude that Great Britain adopted toward its colonies, and notably toward those of the self-governing type, are summarized with much skill and cogency.” W: R. Shepherd
“A simply and clearly written essay, well put together, emphasizing the essentials of the subject and sparing the details. ... Prof. Muir’s brief account of the various modern empires—French, Russian, American, German, as well as our own—does not really do justice to their characteristics. ... Even such important facts as the reactionary change in French colonial policy in 1892 are not mentioned. ... The account of Italian and American colonial experiments is also very perfunctory.”
“The book may be read profitably by persons who desire a rapid résumé of the colonial and commercial rivalries of the great powers; more serious students will find it of little value.”
“Professor Muir’s historical survey is sound and full, yet without any unnecessary multiplicity of detail; but in the last stages, where the great challenge to the greatest of the new composite world states, the British empire, is dealt with there is a polemical note, and his references to America throughout are acid and grudging.” M. J.
“It is to be regretted that the facts are presented with such a blend of national self-glorification, of small and unnecessary boastings, of bland superiority to the other nations of the world. ... Professor Muir is both at his best and his worst in writing about his own country. ... It is worthy of note that Professor Muir makes an evident effort to be entirely just to the point of view of Germany. It is impossible not to feel that he does not make that effort in writing of America.”
“We do not find quite the same freshness in the present work as in his ‘Nationalism and internationalism.’ Nevertheless the summary of the workings of a reasonable imperialistic spirit in ‘The expansion of Europe’ is a very lucid survey of the facts, and it has great instructive value.”
“A scholarly and most readable essay. The point of view is aggressively British and the opportunity to do a patriotic bit by the writing has plainly appealed to the author, but this at least has not affected the clarity of his exposition or his excellent style.”
“The first 150 pages cover a survey of the expansion of Europe down to the year 1878. These are, as we should expect, well written, well arranged, the work of an experienced teacher and a competent historian; written as they could not but be, on the lines of Seeley’s ‘Expansion of England,’ they form a useful compendium or text-book. ... The chapterswhich deal with the events since 1878 are not on the level of his ordinary work. The arrangement is defective, there is a good deal of repetition. ... This is, we suggest, the key to the book; it is written too soon.”
MUIR, RAMSAY.Nationalism and internationalism; the culmination of modern history.*$1.25 Houghton 940.5 (Eng ed 17-11913)
“The author’s object is to trace in broad outline the development of two of the most powerful factors in modern history, namely, the nationalist and internationalist movements.” (Ath) “He writes from the standpoint of one who sees a steady growth towards a reign of law in European relations; who believes in the necessity of organizing states on a national basis; and who finds in this kind of national system the sole basis for an international system.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup)
“The author is professor of modern history in the University of Manchester.”
“These are not the only cases where Professor Muir obscures truth by his eagerness for broad conclusions. His theory of nationality, his interpretation of medieval cosmopolitanism are both of them brilliant pieces of journalism, but they are brilliant journalism only because they represent an unnatural simplification of complex facts. They take no account of exceptions, or else they regard them as easy jests. Professor Muir has written a book that is useful for the purposes of dinner-table conversation. But it is not profound enough in its acquaintance with the real issues at stake to be more that a skilful piece of political persiflage.” H. J. Laski
“Professor Muir’s essay does not suffer from lack of balance, but it is distinctly marred by an overstatement of certain tendencies and an understatement of others which at times give his interpretations, seen at a distance, the color of extreme partisanship. ... This is the more regrettable because Professor Muir, in the same short volume, gives some definitions and leading lines of thought which are of surpassing interest and light up whole centuries of happenings with understanding.” Bruno Lasker
“Vigorous, eloquent, well-arranged pages. ... The book before us has, to begin with, one great merit. The author knows precisely what he wants to say, and he says it. ... It is a book which should be read by all who wish for a sane, virile, courageous, and clear-sighted interpretation of the issues of the great war.”
MUKERJEE, RADHAKAMAL.Foundations of Indian economics; with an introd. by Patrick Geddes. il*$3 Longmans 330
“The author, who has been a research student of Calcutta university, and who has for some time been investigating the economic organization of modern India, collects in this volume his scattered studies, and provides a comprehensive and useful survey of the conditions of production in that part of the British empire. The book sketches the economic influences of the Indian system of family, caste and religion, presents detailed studies of the principal cottage and village industries, describes the rural system of trade and credit, and discusses the future of the organization.” (Am Econ R) Professor Mukerjee believes that “India’s economic salvation lies not in bodily taking over the industrial system of the West, but in developing and modernizing her own industrial system which, because it fits the environment, will most assure a prosperous, progressive and contented population.” (Ann Am Acad)
“Will appeal to the interests of students of economic history as well as to those particularly concerned with the problems of modern India.” Clive Day
Reviewed by G. R. Roorbach
“In order to readjust our knowledge of the Orient, books like Professor Mukerjee’s are extremely valuable. ... He is typical of the new school of Indian thinkers. ... The only defect in his book is the absence of a glossary for native names and expressions.” W. G. Tinckom-Fernandez
“Professor Mukerjee has performed a great service in taking stock of the vestigial remains of India’s ancient economies as they survive to-day in the traditional arts and crafts preserved by the universal caste and guild systems. He is at considerable pains to show the effect of western institutions on these survivals. ... Most illuminating is the careful description and illustration of the various hereditary trades and their processes of production and distribution.”
“The importance of Professor Mukerjee’s work lies in his ideas and proposals. ... The book is marred by the writer’s limitation of view. ... The great questions of protection (as against free imports), labour, and capital should have been more fully discussed. ... But his work will repay perusal to those concerned with Indian economics, as showing the views of an educated Indian, which many compatriots possibly share.”
MULLER, ROBERT ENRIQUE.United States navy. il $1 Rand 359 17-13461
“One hundred and forty-three reproductions of our superdreadnoughts, dreadnoughts, battleships, armored cruisers, and submarines, and life aboard them; also the work of laying mines, discharging torpedoes, etc. ... Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske furnishes a foreword.”—Wis Lib Bul
“A convenient book for boys interested in the navy and those enlisting in its service.”
MUNDAY, ALBERT H.Eyes of the army and navy; practical aviation. il*$1.50 Harper 623.7 17-29812
A handbook on aviation. The author is a flight-lieutenant in the Royal naval air service, and his book is planned “to meet the requirements of the layman with a moderate education who wished to obtain a practical knowledge of flying and the fundamental principles of construction, aero-engines, and various other aeronautical subjects.” (Foreword) Contents: Aerial navigation; Theory of flight; Map-reading; Cross-country flying; Charts; Meteorology; Construction; The care and maintenance of aeroplanes; Aero engines; Aeroplane and airship instruments; Wireless telegraphy and semaphore; Aerial photography; Bombs and bomb-dropping; Night flying; Artillery observations from aircraft; Aerial fighting; Lighter than air; Medical supervision of aviators. An appendix gives definitions of terms and tables for the metric system.
MUNDY, TALBOT.[2]Winds of the world. il*$1.50 Bobbs 17-30041
“Here, by the author of ‘King, of the Khyber Rifles,’ a man who knows his India well, is a hair-raising tale of adventure, intrigue, peril, uncertainty, that centres in the loyalty of an Indian regiment and the failure of German ‘diplomacy.’ The chief of characters in the book are three: Kirby, the English colonel of a Sikh regiment; Risaldar-Major Ranjoor-Singh, whom Kirby trusts as he trusts himself; and Yasmini the dancer, to whom the winds of the world have whispered their secrets. ... With these three as chief characters, and a group of German ‘merchants’ weaving their web of plottings, the story runs its exciting course.”—N Y Times
“Kirby and the dancer the author has drawn in a conventional fashion, winning the reader’s attention by obvious means enough. But Ranjoor-Singh’s capture of our sympathy is more subtle; it is, as a piece of work, the best thing in the book.”
“There is abundant mystery and adventure in this lively tale, and the reader’s pleasure and entertainment is enhanced by the author’s humor.”
MURDOCH, W. G. BURN.Modern whaling and bear hunting. il*$5 Lippincott 639
“In 1892 Mr Burn Murdoch took part in a whaling expedition to the Weddell sea in Antarctica. He went as an artist, but became so attracted by the fascinations of whale-fishing that he formed a small company, fitted out a motor-driven whaler in Norway—the ‘St Ebba’—and, accompanied by a Norse crew, ranged over northern and southern seas in pursuit of the dangerous but highly profitable Finner. This book tells us how he fared.”—Spec
“This is a story of actual adventure, even more vigorous and entertaining than any fiction could be. More than a hundred illustrations from drawings and photographs add greatly to the value and interest of the book.”
“The interesting personality of Mr Burn Murdoch is a welcome embellishment to the subject-matter of his book. On the practical side he is a genuine whaler, in the business for the profit which it offers, with a keen eye for efficient methods in its prosecution, and yet with that larger outlook that would have his own success only an element in the success of all. But he has also in his make-up a well-developed aesthetic element which finds in the sea something more than the whales which are to fill his oil vessels and thereby fatten his bank account.”
“Mr Burn Murdoch’s descriptions are always effective, because of their simplicity and sincerity. His English is sometimes shaky, but we never fail to grasp his meaning. There could be no greater refreshment to the war-weary mind than the perusal of this book.”
“Mr Burn Murdoch is by no means so easy to read as he well might be if he had taken a good model—say, for instance, Darwin’s ‘Cruise of the Beagle.’ It is a pity, because he knows his subject, which is good.”
MURPHY, CHARLES JOSEPH.[2]American Indian corn (maize); a cheap, wholesome, and nutritious food; rev. and ed. with additions of many new recipes and a foreword by Jeannette Young Norton.*75c Putnam 641.5 17-23804
“The data, gathered by Mr Murphy, formerly food commissioner of Nebraska, is even more valuable today when it was collected for the illumination of the great food convention, held in Paris in 1889. ... This edition holds many new recipes. And besides those for general use is a series suitable for invalids. Prefacing these rules for the making of ‘the very best foods’ from Indian corn is a brief history of its growth and use.”—Boston Transcript
MURPHY, THOMAS DOWLER.Oregon, the picturesque. (See America first ser.) il*$3.50 Page 917.95 17-28901
The sub-title calls this book a “book of rambles in the Oregon country and in the wilds of northern California; descriptive sketches and pictures of Crater and Klamath lakes, the Deschutes river canyon, the new Columbia highway, the Willamette and Rogue river valleys and the cities and towns of Oregon; also of the little-known lakes, rivers, mountains, and vast forests of northern California, to which is added a trip to the Yosemite and to the Roosevelt dam and the petrified forest of Arizona, by motor car.” (Library of Congress card)
“In addition to Mr Murphy’s text the reader has a map before him for guidance and a series of half-tone illustrations to justify the author’s enthusiasm over the scenic wonders he visits.” A. A. R.
“The author fails to invest the open road with the charm that it has in this region, while his portrayal of the major scenic marvels lacks the power of conveying even a modicum of the reactions produced by the originals.”
MURRAY, ARTHUR MORDAUNT.Fortnightly history of the war. maps*$3 Stokes 940.91 (Eng ed 17-16101)
“Not many serial criticisms of the war are worth republication, for most criticisms offered in reviews and newspapers fall out of date as information accumulates. Colonel A. M. Murray’s history of the war written month by month in the Fortnightly Review is, however, a distinct exception. It is true that he has amended and amplified his remarks, but in substance they remain. ... Sir Evelyn Wood in a short introduction expresses his admiration, and also his dissent on certain points.” (Spec) “The present volume takes us from the beginning of the war down to July 18, 1916.” (New Repub)
“The outstanding feature of this voluminous work is its really splendid set of seventy maps that illustrate, with a scrupulous detail, the campaigns and the battles in Europe, Asia and Africa. Colonel Murray writes with a soldierly regard of strategy and tactics. To our mind the French defence of Verdun and the antecedent epoch-making battle of the Marne deserve more analysis than he grants.” S. A.
“Colonel Murray has written an accurate, terse and shrewdly perceptive military history of the war during its first two bloody years.”
“A very clear military exposition of events.”
“As it stands, it is, perhaps, more valuable as a history of the evolution of expert opinion than as a ‘précis’ of the military operations. The account of the operations of the Belgian army is very vague: and there are some notable omissions.”
MURRAY, GILBERT.Faith, war, and policy.*$1.25 (1c) Houghton 940.91 17-23769
These thirteen essays show the reaction of the mind of “a fairly representative English Liberal, standing just outside the circle of official politics” to the European war. “Beginning with ‘First thoughts on the war,’ anarticle printed in October, 1914, [in the Hibbert Journal] they come down through the three years of war, taking up various questions concerning it, and end with an address delivered March, 1917, before the Fight for right league on ‘The turmoil of war.’ Included is a section on ‘Ireland,’ in three parts, one on the Dublin insurrection, one on the execution of Casement, and a consideration of the future of Ireland written the middle of last March. Two of the papers deal with America in her relation to the war and to England, both of them preceding our entrance into the conflict.” (N Y Times) Several of the essays were first printed in the Atlantic Monthly, Contemporary Review, Westminster Gazette, etc. The essay entitled “How can war ever be right” was printed as Oxford pamphlet no. 18.
Reviewed by C. H. P. Thurston
“Professor Murray’s book affords a wise and statesmanlike view of complicated problems, and not the least of its merits is the temperate spirit with which these problems are discussed.”
“What stands out most sharply and incongruously in the book is Professor Murray’s complaisance in transferring the problems raised by the war to the shoulders of those very diplomats and statesmen whose inadequacy is sufficiently demonstrated by the presentdébâcle. In discussing the British foreign office, Professor Murray adopts a tone which is nothing less than smug. This fatal complacency extends to everything British.”
“One of the most persuasive defenses of British foreign policy ever written. ... Gilbert Murray not only performs perfectly the easy task of showing the manifold fallacies of non-resistant pacifism but courageously ventures to discuss the most questionable phases of his case, such as the suppression of the Dublin revolt, British interference with neutral trade, and the secret diplomacy of the British foreign office.”
“The sentiments of these utterances should get before the minds of all of us Americans, and in particular into the minds of those incomprehensibles who talk of ‘those blood-thirsty Europeans’ who will not compromise, or declare that none of the warring nations know what they are fighting about.”
“There is a Gilbert Murray writing in this volume who fulfills a high expectation. ... There are flashes throughout these pages of a personal intensity of experience. ... But his propaganda is not altogether a pleasant thing to contemplate. ... It is difficult not to be continually reminded in this volume of the poorer sorts of patriotism that make the chauvinist and the jingo. ... Mr Murray beats the German dog with the stick of self-righteousness, failing altogether to account for the less immediate and less nationalistic issues that now are emerging through the conflict, and that propose a revision of the whole structure of monarchical Europe rather than the redemption of the status quo from the nationalistic collision.” F. H.
“It is not that the matter is not informative; its lack of backbone, its inconclusiveness is the most striking feature. In almost everything, this Liberal ‘Sir Roger de Coverley’ tells us that ‘much can be said on both sides,’ and to do him justice, he says it, and says it particularly well.” J. W.
“Although many of the papers contained in this volume were written so early in the war as to have lost the appeal of timeliness, there is in the views expressed a permanent rightness that gives the book lasting importance.”
“Especially to be commended to students of ethical aspects of the war.”
“It was a little unfortunate that Gilbert Murray’s ‘Faith, war and policy’ should fall into the hands of an anti-English reviewer in the New Republic and an anti-Russian reviewer in the Evening Post. For their assaults on the book were not quite without prejudice. They hardly did justice to Prof. Murray’s fundamental liberalism. Yet for their irritation there is some excuse. Prof. Murray does claim a good deal for his country. ... He is too ready to put to the back of his mind a less liberal and lofty England, not many years in the past, and by no means suppressed in the present. ... Not all that he has to say about America will be pleasing to American readers. ... There is in the book much fine feeling and brilliant writing; though, as a whole, it is not above the status of controversial, perhaps one may even say, propagandist literature, however much it may be above the average level of that literature.”
“The finest testimony, perhaps, to the worth of the author’s political and moral philosophy is the fact that there is no great contrast between his reaction to war at the beginning and that after three years of it.” Bruno Lasker
MUSPRATT, EDMUND KNOWLES.My life and work. il*$2.50 (3c) Lane 17-3731
These memoirs cover a long period of time, the author having been born in 1833. He is the son of a manufacturing chemist of Liverpool and he has been closely associated with the public life of that city. As a young man he was sent to Germany to study with Liebig, and his German experiences and friendships are the subject of the early chapters. He visited the United States in the year of the centennial and devotes an interesting chapter to his impressions. Other chapters are concerned with travels on the Continent and with the men and women of note he has known.
“We gain a vivid impression of German university life and of the condition of German society in the early fifties of last century. It is not without its lights and shades. ... The book is written in a simple, unaffected manner, with no pretensions to literary style.” T. E. Thorpe
“Mr Muspratt is well known in Liverpool as a good citizen, with a keen interest in higher education, art, and other worthy causes. He is known more widely as a strong Liberal and Free Trader, and rendered much service to his party in the past by his ‘Financial reform almanack.’ At the age of eighty-three, he has written his reminiscences of a happy life, with notes on his travels, and his many friends will find the book interesting.”
“A book with something on every page to interest the humane reader. ... In these pages we hear of persons whom literature has made famous in the guise of fiction.”
MUSSON, BENNET.Turn to the right.*$1.35 (3½c) Duffield 17-18357
A novelized version of the play by Winchell Smith and John E. Hazzard that had so great a run in New York last year. Without letting his widowed mother know, Joe Bascom had served time in Ossining for another’s guilt. Free again, but penniless, he arrives home to find his mother well caught in a snare spread for herby a respected deacon of the town. The deacon’s hold on her is thru a debt of a hundred and twenty-five dollars which Joe is trying desperately to raise when two fellow prisoners drop down upon him. They learn of Joe’s plight, make a journey to the deacon’s grocery, take the needed money from the safe, and give it to Joe without explaining the manner of getting. The deacon is paid, but the pals relieve him of the sum and put it back into his safe. One humorous situation follows another. On the serious side, the deacon’s plans are foiled, the pals “turn to the right,” a way is found for the mother to make her peach orchard pay handsomely, and there is more than the ordinary amount of marrying and living happily forever after.
“The transposition into book form of even the finest play is seldom successful. And the drama from which this novel was written was not of the class mentioned, no matter how ‘successful,’ may have been its run. The combined result is obvious.”
“The little tale is of a somewhat sugary quality, but in justice to Mr Musson, the novelizer, it must be said that he has done his work nicely, and that the superabundance of sweetness in the whole is no fault of his. The plot has some dexterous twists which enable it to hold the reader’s interest.”
“The transformation is done with greater care and skill than is generally found in work of this order. The story is sentimental, but contains enough colloquial humor to palliate the other element.”
MUTZENBERG, CHARLES GUSTAVUS.Kentucky’s famous feuds and tragedies; authentic history of the world renowned vendettas of the dark and bloody ground.*$1.25 (2½c) Fenno 976.9 17-18067
The author has been at pains to discover the truth about some of the famous Kentucky feuds and to separate legend from authentic history. His investigations have led him to the conclusion that these long standing and tragic feuds have had their origin primarily in the failure of legal machinery. In addition to inefficient and corrupt officials, the lack of healthy moral sentiment, of proper education and religious training and the illicit trade in whisky are named as contributing causes. The clannish spirit of the mountaineers is accounted for by the fact of their descent from the highland clans of Scotland.
“His viewpoint is of course all very well if you care to look at everything from a restrictedly moral eminence. Few people who know the mountains probably will care for it, for it is strongly misrepresentative.” R. M.
“Kentucky’s feuds are, in any large sense, over. ... Their history illuminates the character of the present-day ‘citizen’; it does not afford justifiable grounds for a polemic against his ancestors who made their own law and abode by it.”
“As a literary product, this volume has little to commend it. A needless multiplicity of detail, doubtless intended to give it weight as an indictment, swells it to burdensome proportions.”
“While undoubtedly true in every particular, Mr Mutzenberg’s book in some places reminds one of a dime novel. It is a long record of lawless crimes, murders and outrages. Such a condition of affairs has almost passed away, and, it is to be hoped, will never return.”
MYERS, GUSTAVUS.History of Tammany Hall.2d ed rev and enl*$2.50 Boni & Liveright 363 17-31564
“A history of Tammany Hall has long been wanted. There had been one, and only one, that we know of, issued some sixteen years ago. For the last few years it has been practically impossible to procure a copy, which gives color to the belief that the volume has been undergoing a quiet but effective suppression. At any rate, copies were always held at a high premium. But now the same work has been issued in a second edition, and the history brought down to the present day. ... The matter which was added to the work since its first appearance sixteen years ago is unusually full and complete.”—N Y Call